Nia Jerwood is a sailor and Olympian who was awarded a Scholarship within the 2018 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, and has been paired with Liane Tooth as her Mentor.
Nia was born in Perth in 1998 and began sailing at age five. She was born into a sailing family and grew tired of waiting on shore while her older siblings spent time on the water, so her parents bought her a boat at age five. She is now an Olympian.
Nia honed her craft at the Fremantle Sailing Club and commonly competes in the Women’s Sailing Two Person Dighy, or 470 class. She achieved her first major results in 2017 when she claimed silver at the Sail Melbourne Regatta and finished 10th at the Sailing World Series event in Gamagori, Japan, before winning the bronze medal at the National Championships in the 420 class.
Nia remained in the 420 class to win gold ay the World Championships, Ladies Division in 2018 and cement her reputation as an elite international sailor. She then achieved top 10 finishes when returning to the 470 class at the European Championships and various world cup events throughout 2019, and reached a ranking of number 9 in the world. Such strong performances earned her selection in the Australian team for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where she finished 16th.
Nia’s ambition is to win an Olympic gold medal for Australia and continues to prepare for future international events under the guidance of her father and coaches Belinda Stowell and Ruslana Taran.
Jerwood speaks about the opportunity to be mentored by Liane Tooth: “I am really looking forward to the opportunity that I have been given to be mentored by Liane. She is not only a very successful athlete having won two gold medals, but has also dedicated a lot of her time to creating greater opportunities for women in sport. I believe I have plenty to learn from Liane and am really looking forward to being inspired.”
Honours & Achievements
- 2017: Sail Sydney – Gold
- 2017: Sailing World Cup Series, Gamagori Japan – 10th
- 2017: Sail Melbourne Regatta – Silver
- 2017: Sail Sydney – Gold
- 2017/2018: 420 National Championships – 3rd
- 2018: 420 World Championships, Ladies Division – Gold
- 2019: Enoshima Japan Sailing World Cup – 2nd
- 2019: 9th in the World
- 2019: Selected for Tokyo Test Event
- 2019: 470 European Championship – 9th
- 2020 (2021): Tokyo Olympic Games – 470, 16th
